Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards hepatitis B control among pregnant women attending antenatal care at Moroto regional referral hospital, Uganda

Abstract

Background

Hepatitis B virus (Brouard et al.) Infection is a serious public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa with a prevalence of 9-20%. In Uganda (4.9%) of the pregnant women are infected with HBV. Furthermore, factors associated with HBV vaccination are not known in Uganda, more especially in the karamoja region. Objective

To assess the knowledge, attitude and practices towards HBV control among pregnant women attending Antenatal Clinic at Moroto Regional Hospital in order to devise ways of reducing the incidence of HBV. Methods

This was a hospital based cross sectional study in which 192 pregnant women attending routine antenatal care in Moroto Regional Referral Hospital were selected using simple random sampling. Assessment of the knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards hepatitis b vaccination interviewer administered questionnaires was used. Key informant interview was also conducted to ascertain expert opinion on use of preventive practices on HBV infection. Descriptive statistics to determine the level of knowledge, attitude and practices towards HBV was calculated. Factors influencing the use of practices were determined using logistic regression and a p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results

There were 192 participants aged between 25-34 years and their mean age was 28±6.1. Less than a half 35% of the respondents had received three doses of HBV vaccine. Also (51%), knew that treatment and vaccination were the most effective ways of preventing HBV, 78% of the women attending ANC had good attitude towards HBV. Further women who were employed were more likely to be vaccinated compared to those who were unemployed (PR=1.26, 95% 1.06-1.48).Women who were knowledgeable about HBV were more likely to be vaccinated compared to those who were not knowledgeable. Conclusion

The Knowledge and awareness about the HBV infection, screening and vaccination among pregnant women attending ANC in Moroto Regional Referal Hospital was above average. Also women’s employment was significantly associated with HBV vaccination. Furthermore attitude and perception about the HBV infection, screening and vaccination among the women attending ANC was not significantly associated with HBV vaccination.